When you need to clean up a lot of water, you're supposed to use a water-friendly vacuum. These can be rather pricey to buy or rent, but if you've got a regular vacuum you can upgrade it for just $1. As Instructables user tycoyoken points out, all it takes is a few household items and some know-how. Here's what you'll need to make the conversion:

A vacuum cleaner (of course)

Rubber bands

Tissue paper

4 sets of straws

A pen knife

A soft drink bottle

And here are the video instructions:

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As you can see from the video, you basically cut an opening in the bottle, attach your bendy straws, pad the bottle opening with tissue paper, and attach it to your vacuum cleaner. You can then start sucking up water through the straws. While this isn't going to replace a proper water vacuum, it'll work just fine for smaller jobs or in a pinch.